Spiral Down
by GNess
Summary: Losing a shoe was the least of Charlie’s problems.


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Spiral Down

"You have a problem."

Charlie spun around, his heart racing. The voice, he recognized in the back of his mind, but until he turned around and saw its owner, he couldn't place two and two together. This could be caused by the onslaught of sudden raging terror.

Or maybe he was just tired. No, it was most definitely the terror thing.

"Do I?" Charlie asked, feeling his heart rate slow down slightly as he realized he wasn't faced with some sort of evil threatening person that would 'out' his problem to everyone on the bloody island.

Kate nodded solemnly, heaving a dramatic sigh.

"So, you mean a problem other than the whole…being stranded on an island that has polar bears and monsters and other nasty things?"

The corners of Kate's lips twitched, but if she was anything, she wasn't the type of girl to have her emotions written on her face. "Yeah. Other than those things."

Charlie cleared his throat and waited, expecting her to continue. "And what would my problem be?"

Kate held up a shoe. Charlie's shoe. Checkered, amazingly dirty, and the one he kept on his foot at all times. Even when he was sleeping. Hell, even when he was fishing. They were like a security blanket. Or, maybe it wasn't the shoes themselves, but what was held inside of one of them.

"You're wandering around without a shoe."

Charlie licked his dry lips, feeling his throat constrict and his pulse pick up.

She held the shoe out to him, her face stoic.

"I guess…I dropped it." Charlie managed a hollow laugh as he took the shoe from her and swiftly slipped it on his foot. He hadn't even noticed he'd lost it.

Kate nodded. "I think when you tripped back there--" she jutted her chin to the left, where a root was sticking up from the ground. Charlie vaguely remembered vaulting over it moments before. "---that's probably when it happened."

Charlie blinked. "Right. Yeah."

She tipped her head to the side, making some of her hair fall into her eyes; she brushed it aside and settled her penetrating gaze on his face. His stubble was growing out of control, his hair was a disheveled mess and there were beads of sweat just starting at his hairline.

"Are you okay, Charlie?"

"Sure." He managed a smile and a nonchalant shrug even as his eyes darted all over the place.

"What are you doing over here?" Kate wondered, glancing behind him; they were on the jungle's edge, in a grove of trees that were both secluded and apparently sound proof because she couldn't hear anyone back at the beach, and they'd been pretty loud when she'd walked away from them moments before.

Charlie forced his lips into a curious smile even as his hands began to shake and his finger started tapping frantically against his pant leg. The weight of the baggie in his right hand was almost too much for him to bear. It had to weigh about eighty pounds. Maybe more. As far as he knew, it only contained powder, but it felt to him like bricks, weighing him down.

"Nothing."

Kate didn't seem convinced, but she nodded slowly and turned to walk away. Just as Charlie was about to go deeper into the trees to find a safe spot, Kate turned around and her voice stopped his movement.

"Be careful, Charlie," she said quietly. "Okay?"

Charlie glanced over his shoulder at her, ready to say something to lighten the tense mood that had surrounded them, but she was already walking off. And he couldn't yell because his voice was hoarse and it was getting almost impossible to breathe.

__

Breathe, Charlie instructed himself as he dove through the trees like a wild animal on a hunt. _In. Out. In. Out._

In.

Charlie dropped to his knees beneath a rather large tree of unknown origin. He didn't bother checking to make sure he was out of eyeshot of anyone, should they come near him from any direction.

__

Out.

All he could concentrate on was the baggie in his hand and the feeling of overwhelming happiness that was climbing up within him at the thought of being able to finally get it over with.

He'd be able to relax afterwards. But not until.

A sigh of relief mixed with euphoria came over him as he relaxed against the tree trunk, his limbs tingling and slack at his side. He stared at his shoes, the baggie clutched in his hand still.

If only she knew.

Losing a shoe was the least of Charlie's problems.


End file.
